CENTER CITY, Minn., May 23, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- John Driscoll, an executive with the nonprofit Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, is the new board chair for the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers.
Driscoll, senior vice president of recovery services at Hazelden Betty Ford, assumed the new role at NAATP's annual conference held this month in Washington, D.C. He will serve for two years, having served the previous two as vice chair. He succeeds Art VanDivier, executive director of La Hacienda Treatment Center in Hunt, Tex.
Driscoll has worked in the addiction treatment field for almost 30 years, including the past 20 at Minnesota-headquartered Hazelden Betty Ford, an addiction treatment leader with 15 clinical sites across the country, two non-clinical sites, and extensive education, prevention, research, advocacy and publishing resources.
"It is my privilege to serve alongside John, for whom I have the utmost respect," said NAATP Executive Director Marvin Ventrell. "We are well-aligned and poised to make real progress together for our field and those who suffer from this life-threatening yet treatable disease of addiction."
NAATP is a nonprofit, professional membership society and trade association of more than 900 top providers throughout the addiction treatment continuum of care. Established in 1978, it is committed to advancing addiction care and supporting its growing membership of service providers.
"During my tenure as NAATP's board chair, one priority will be to help the association expand its public advocacy efforts," Driscoll said. "Addiction is America's top public health problem, and NAATP's voice is needed now more than ever.
"We are in the midst of an opioid overdose epidemic and broader addiction crisis that demands we advocate strongly not just for our industry but, most importantly, for the millions of individuals and families affected," Driscoll continued. "Everyone who suffers from addiction deserves access to quality care, on par with the access and quality they receive when getting help for other health conditions."
Ventrell said Driscoll's leadership and representation of members will also be critical to the association's ongoing efforts to implement quality standards, best practices and robust outcomes measures.
"We are a young profession compared to other healthcare fields and are making good progress on standardizing core competencies and quality assurances across our member facilities," Ventrell said. "John's move from vice chair to chair will enable us to seamlessly and aggressively continue our evolution from a cottage industry to a larger, more integrated discipline within the healthcare system—one that is laser-focused on maximizing value, efficacy and outcomes for our patients, as well as for the families and communities we serve."
"One specific goal of mine around quality assurance is to bring some needed attention to the importance of measurement-based care," added Driscoll. "By basing clinical care on client data systematically collected throughout treatment, we can improve care and outcomes in real time."
At Hazelden Betty Ford, which is celebrating its 70th anniversary in 2019, Driscoll provides clinical leadership for all of the organization's sites nationwide. He has been instrumental in facilitating greater standardization; integrating medications with clinical therapy and peer support; installing a measurement-based care system called Feedback Informed Treatment; and implementing the organization's new electronic health record system. Driscoll joined the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation in 1999 as a counselor and served in a variety of roles before becoming a senior executive. Prior to joining Hazelden Betty Ford, he started and directed a long-term treatment program for women and their children in Chicago.
Driscoll grew up in Randville, Mich., and graduated from North Dickinson High School. He received his bachelor's degree in psychology from Northern Michigan University in Marquette, Mich., and went on to attend the clinical psychology graduate program at Marquette University in Milwaukee. Driscoll is a licensed alcohol and drug counselor and holds an MBA from Hamline University in St. Paul, Minn. He currently lives in St. Croix Falls, Wis., with his wife and their two daughters.
About the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation
The Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation is a force of healing and hope for individuals, families and communities affected by addiction to alcohol and other drugs. As the nation's leading nonprofit provider of comprehensive inpatient and outpatient treatment for adults and youth, the Foundation has 17 locations nationwide and collaborates with an expansive network throughout healthcare. With a legacy that began in 1949 and includes the 1982 founding of the Betty Ford Center, the Foundation today also encompasses a graduate school of addiction studies, a publishing division, an addiction research center, recovery advocacy and thought leadership, professional and medical education programs, school-based prevention resources and a specialized program for children who grow up in families with addiction. Learn more at HazeldenBettyFord.org and on Twitter @hazldnbettyford.
About NAATP
The National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers has been the addiction service profession's vision, voice, and thought leader since 1978. NAATP is a nonprofit professional membership society and trade association of top treatment providers throughout the addiction treatment continuum of care. NAATP supports its members by providing clinical and operational resources as well as law and policy advocacy. NAATP's service as a convening body brings the industry together to promote collegiality and the dissemination of best practices. Learn more at naatp.org.
SOURCE Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation
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